Akkadian Empire

The Akkadian Empire was the first ancient empire of Mesopotamia, existing from 2334 to 2154 BC, with Akkad serving as its capital. Around 2300 BC, Sargon of Akkad seized power in the northern city of Kish and then founded his own power base at Akkad. From there, he imposed his rule on Mesopotamian states as far south as the Persian Gulf, and, in a reign of 40 years, Sargon's army of 5,400 soldiers won 34 battles and conquered northwest to the Mediterranean coast of Syria and eastern Anatolia, and east to Elam. Sargon's empire outlived him for a century, and its last great leader, Naram-Sin, ruled from the Taurus Mountains in the north to the Persian Gulf in the south. The Gutians of the Zagros Mountains invaded the empire and caused its fall around 2154 BC, and the Gutians were not expelled until the reign of the Sumerian king Ur-Nammu during the 21st century BC.